Just as an immortal feast must include peaches, an Asgardian feast must include these golden apples.
Sure, the fairy tale is sweet on the lips. In reality, one apple only delays death by a few decades—but to a mere mortal, those decades are worth a lump of solid, priceless gold.
Monako lifted his head, his old eyes narrowed behind the smoke of his pipe. "Those Golden Apples of Idunn... haven't you eaten them?" Monaco asked in surprise, as if the news stirred up the ashes of his memory.
Lance stared straight at Monaco, swallowing hard. "Mr. Monaco, do you know their origins?"
Monako tapped his pipe on the edge of the wooden table. The sound rang clearly, piercing the silence of the bar. "I've heard glimpses of them," Monaco murmured. "You must know, that little mustachioed leader—he's obsessed with mysticism. He has dozens of underground laboratories, all busy dismantling magic through human means. One of them is tinkering with golden apples... The one in charge is Dr. Gottschalk."
Monako grinned slightly, his teeth yellow. "Gottschalk never touched a grimoire, but his body itself was like a walking talisman. He stole five golden apples through a sacrificial ritual. But unfortunately for him, the little mustachioed man was losing the battle and shot himself in the head. When the Allies swept through the base, Gottschalk escaped, taking all the golden apples with him. I thought he'd swallowed them all or given them to his new master... but apparently there were still three seeds floating around."
That's it. The benefits of longevity—you accumulate the secrets of the dead, waiting for an opportunity to steal new ones.
Lance touched his chin and said, "I heard that golden apples can not only prolong life and keep you young forever, but also eliminate disease, which fits my needs."
Lance's fingers traced the skin beneath his chin, as if trying to feel for the longevity he hadn't yet grasped. Lance's breath misted slightly in the cool air of the room, mixed with the scent of magical incense that slowly clung to his robes.
Monako looked at Lance and said seriously, "Wow, the black market in magic isn't a secret market. Most of the people who come and go there are black magicians and dimensional demons. They really don't like you guys from Kamar-Taj..." Monaco smoothed his frazzled beard, her eyes sharp like old daggers still capable of cutting through dragon flesh.
Lance disagreed: "It doesn't matter. If they don't like me, I'll just knock them out!" The corner of Lance's lips lifted, a faint smile that was more like a threat. Lance's left hand gripped the handle of the short staff at his belt, the tips of his nails tapping on the black wood covered in worn runes.
"This is more of a problem." Monaco glared at Lance, her eyes looking like they were about to pop out of their sockets. "The black market in magic is indeed very evil, but to the wizarding world, its existence is indispensable. If you truly destroy it, you will offend most people in the wizarding world."
Monako leaned forward, his tone heavy, suppressing the silence around them. The shadows of the candlelight swayed on the wall, reflecting the old wrinkles on Monaco's face.
Lance was slightly stunned and immediately reacted. His eyes dimmed for a moment, then flashed again like embers doused in oil. The black market in magic might not have a powerful background, but they often had special channels for obtaining many extremely rare items.
Even the Sorcerer Supreme sometimes had to obtain goods from them, let alone the ordinary wizards who were a mix of black and white. A cold wind blew through the gap in the window, making Lance's black robes flutter gently, like the shadow of a crow on the threshold of dusk.
It might not be difficult to destroy the black market in magic, but it wouldn't be easy to find a source of similar items in the future. Lance's fingers clenched slowly, the muscles in his jaw tensed, holding back the harsh words that almost escaped.
Monako saw Lance's expression and suggested, "Here's my suggestion. Go in pretending to be a dark wizard and leave as soon as you get what you want... If anything recognizes you and wants to harm you, you can kill them at will as long as they stay out of the House of the Infernal Glories' range." Monaco's voice lowered at the end, as if the name of the place itself could invite disaster if spoken too loudly.
"Okay!" Lance then agreed. A smile appeared at the corner of Lance's lips.
...
...
...
Lance quickly chose his transformation target—the man whose name could not be mentioned. He took a deep breath, allowing his fingers to tremble slightly from the cold of the night and the tension creeping up his neck.
However, Lance's transformation spell was rather ordinary; the aura emanating from him bore no trace of dark magic. If someone were truly sensitive—especially the magic predators in the black market—they would sniff out the deception like a dog smelling rotten meat.
Only ordinary people could be fooled by this surface illusion. If Lance were to enter the lair of the wicked and the good who pretended to be good, it would only be a matter of time before his mask was revealed.
Fortunately, Monako intervened.
At the most confused moment of his life—in a narrow alley smelling of sulfur and blood—Monako had once found guidance from the Sorcerer Supreme.
Since then, although Monako had never truly worshipped Kamar-Taj, he always kept the door open for its sorcerers. He was not hesitant to lend a hand to Lance, who to him was just a reckless kid with overly grand intentions.
With Monako's authentic dark magic, Lance's mask was no longer just an optical illusion—his skin was pale, his cheekbones prominent, and his nose seemed to vanish into the darkness of his face.
Lance looked like a street version of Voldemort, more human, yet still evoking discomfort in anyone who stared too long.
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[Announcement: A New Novel Has Been Added!
The Puppet Maker in the World of Naruto
A man who is a scientist, researcher, and expert mechanic in robotics dies in a massive explosion that occurs in his laboratory while developing an advanced robot project. However, instead of experiencing death as he thought, the man awakens in another world—a strange place with vast stretches of desert.
There, the man is surrounded by people who can jump high, calling themselves ninjas. The confusion he initially felt grows as he realizes that this world is not unfamiliar to him. This is the world of Naruto! However, there is one thing that surprises him.
"Isn't this Sunagakure? Why am I not in Konoha? This poorest village... Oh my God, this is serious!"
Now, in the midst of a new life filled with danger and uncertainty, the scientist must find a way to survive in Sunagakure, a harsh place full of limitations. With his robotic knowledge, can the man change his fate in this ninja world, or will he fall along with the village?]
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